The 'Die Hard 6' title officially confirmed as 'McClane' by producer

The 6th Die Hard movie won’t have ‘Die Hard’ in the title for the first time since 1988.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirmed to Empire magazine that the film will be called McClane, using the surname of the franchise’s long-running protagonist John McClane, as played by Bruce Willis.

According to di Bonaventura, this decision was made because this sixth instalment is set to delve into the action hero’s life more than ever before.

“You can tell our intention by the fact that the title page we handed in says, ‘MCCLANE’,” the producer told the magazine. “We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before.”

A Good Day to Die Hard was Willis’ last outing as John McClane with Jai Courtenay (centre) playing his son Jack

Here are all the official Die Hard franchise titles:

Die Hard (1988)

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

McClane (TBA)

This film will welcome back Willis in his iconic role but also welcome a new actor to play a younger version of John McClane. The story will go back and forth in time, to see McClane starting out in the ’70s as a rookie cop as well as where he’s at now, with di Bonaventura ensuring Willis will be just as much a part of the movie as he’s previously been.

“I don’t know how you do Die Hard without Bruce,” he explained. “The idea that he’s not very significant in this movie is not accurate at all. We are gonna explore John McClane in his twenties. But just as prominent is the 60-year-old version.”

Willis had said he wanted to retire his character in a sixth movie, before he had made his fifth appearance in A Good Day to Die Hard. His Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman confirmed the sixth movie in a social media post five years later, but the film was going to be called Die Hard: Year One.

Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes were brought in to pen the script in March 2018, which Wiseman confirmed had been finished last month and plans to go into production were meant to be put into action “very soon.”